


The Turtleduck Pond

by RideBoldlyRide



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Established Relationship, F/M, Goodbyes, Long-Distance Relationship, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24996556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RideBoldlyRide/pseuds/RideBoldlyRide
Summary: Even the most beautiful love stories have sad endings, eventually.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	The Turtleduck Pond

It's three months later that she sees him. 

She's sitting by the turtleduck pond, taking in her reflection on its surface. Her tired eyes tracing the lines of the silvers streaking her hair. At the corner of her eye, she sees motion, and a familiar figure moves to join her at the reflection's edge. His face is softly lined, particularly at the corners of his eyes, and his hair similarly streaked with silver. It's pulled up in his familiar style, half in a topknot, the rest of his raven hair hanging below his shoulders. In a light tunic and pants, he sits beside her, around her, and she can feel his warmth at her back. 

A smile sits gently at his lips, and despite the heaviness in her heart, she feels the smile coming easily to hers. With a soft hand, she smooths the gentle ripples in the pond. He's now staring back at her on water like a mirror. 

"I've missed you." Her words are soft, speaking for only him to hear, as according to their tradition. 

A warm breath by her ear, his words gentle.

"I've missed you too."

She never takes her eyes off the water's surface, but she turns to his voice. 

"I wish you could have seen her, Zuko. She was graceful, just like you. Proud, strong, focused. Spirits, she looked like  _ you _ ."

He didn't say anything, but she can feel his breath dancing across her hair, as in the reflection Zuko buries his nose into the silver-streaked brown hair. She wanted to close her eyes, and sink back into his actions. But instead, she keeps her eyes on the water's surface. She feels the tears prickling behind her eyes. 

Eyes like the deep sea watch as the reflection of her husband- her love- rest his chin over her shoulder, his golden eyes watching her. The joy in them is now laced with sorrow. His smile twisted slightly. 

"I'm sorry, Katara."

The tears threatening to gather finally start to blur her vision, and she desperately crushes them under the heel of her palms, anxious to see clearly. She can't as easily crush away the pain in her voice. 

"Why did you have to leave? Why did you have to leave me alone here so soon?"

His hand ghosted over her arm, finally resting on her shoulder, gripping her tightly. 

"I didn't want to. I'm so sorry…"

The tears finally fell too fast for her, burning hot streaks down her cheeks. Even through the blurred vision of her tears, she could see the intensity in his golden eyes. 

"I love you, Katara."

She turned to where she could feel his chin rested on her shoulder, her eyes squeezed tight. 

"I love you too, Zuko."

Eyes still closed tight, she could feel his lips ghost over her forehead. But when she opened her eyes again, she met an empty space. As she collapsed into herself, she allowed herself to finally cry unreservedly for the first time since he had left her- had left them. 

Katara remembered the night clearly, when the guards and fire sages bore him into their room, and the instant feeling of foreboding that settled in her belly before she had even seen the wound. It didn't prevent her attempts to heal him, and she managed to hold on to him for a few stolen days. 

It allowed their children to be at his side as he gave his final farewells, wishes, and lastly his final breath. 

It was somewhere between a day and a night, when she woke from an exhaustion-based rest to the feeling of his fingers lightly tracing the lines and shapes of her face. His eyes studied the motion as if to memorize her features for the first time. 

He met her eyes with the intensity that he only had for her. In the dim light, they glowed like embers. 

"It's time, my love."

The stubborn streak in her wanted to scream, to beg him not to give up. But her tradition, her people's demands, as a woman of the Southern Water Tribe was to allow a man of honor the dignity of his choice. And no matter the angle she could ever imagine, there was no doubt of Zuko's honor. So instead of yelling, demanding, pleading, she nodded and pulled him gently close. 

Now, as she finally allowed the emotions to wash over her, her silent vigil of the past few weeks (as her tradition again dictates), the pain defined her. Absently, as she finally crumpled to the grass beside the turtleduck pond, she found that the grass was warm, as if he had, in fact, been sitting beside her. It only made his loss more acute.

A hand rested on her upper back, but Katara felt no strength. She had fought -  _ they _ had fought - so hard for the life, the love they had shared. And so quickly it was gone. But maybe not as gone as she thought. 

"Mom?"

Finally opening her eyes, she took in her daughter, flanked by her brother's, and she realized in that moment that the things they had fought so hard for were right there, with varying forms of grief in their faces. 

Chastising herself, she pushed herself upright trying to wipe away the tears that refused to slow. 

"I-I'm sor--" the older woman's protests died on her lips, as she is wrapped up in her children's arms.

"It's okay, Mom. It still hurts for us too." Her eldest son gives her a small smile like his father's.

Clinging to them desperately, Katara doesn't try to stop the tears, the pain. 

"He's so proud of you all." She chokes it out, and she feels them all tighten their grips around her and each other. 

"We know." It's her daughter's voice in her ear. 

A final memory surfaces to her mind, from decades prior, when their love was brand new. 

They had laid beside the turtleduck pond, still dripping from their vigorous sparring session and the kiss they had playfully shared after. He was tracing with his fingertips, the slope of her neck, shoulder, and slowly down her arm. 

Her voice broke his reverie, and he rose a brow.

"Do you think our love will last longer than this lifetime?"

He smiled one of the private smiles he had saved only for her. 

"Legends don't go away, Katara. We'll always find each other. Promise"

And decades later, as she held their children before that same pond, the memory brought a smile to her face. 

_ Wait for me, my love _ , she thought.

She could swear she heard his response. 

_ Always _ . 


End file.
